Nightmares to Emotional Insanity
by darcangell23
Summary: Look, look at me Harry, the corpse said.  You see what you have done?  You see what you have caused?  This is all your fault Harry, all your fault.  The figure began to fade almost as suddenly as it had come, giving him no time to respond.  R
1. Dead Friends and Laughing Foes

**Disclaimer: I wish owned Harry Potter / That is what I'd really like to own / Cause if I owned Harry Potter / Right now I'd be sitting on my throne! As you may have noticed, I do not own Harry Potter, gee what a shame. Oh well, at least I own this story and its plot! That's good enough for me!**

_"Tick-tock, tick-tock." Harry Potter could hear the sound of a single metronome somewhere in the distance but he could not see it. In fact, he couldn't see anything. He was just standing there in the darkness, the sound of the lonely metronome beating steadily in his ear. He gazed around him but could see nothing but pitch black on all sides. He took a cautious step forwards and then stopped. Now he could hear footsteps approaching and a figure emerged from the darkness. It was Hermione Granger and she was spattered with blood. She did not look happy and a more thorough examination of her, told Harry, her neck had been slashed, she was dead._

_"Look, look at me Harry," the corpse said. "You see what you have done? You see what you have caused? This is all your fault Harry, all your fault." The figure began to fade almost as suddenly as it had come, giving him no time to respond. At that moment, he could hear another set of footsteps, now approaching him from behind. He whirled around to find another figure, that of his best mate Ron Weasley, walking toward him. He too, was spattered with blood and Harry knew at once that Ron, like Hermione, was a corpse._

_"She's right Harry," the corpse of Ron said, "It is all your fault. If you hadn't befriended us, you with all the dangers of your past, we never would've ended up this way. It's your fault, your fault!" he shouted pointing at Harry. Again, before Harry could protest, the figure was gone just as suddenly as it had come. And now, Harry turned his head, in light of the sound of yet another set of footsteps. These, turned out to belong to the girl he loved more than any other, Ginny Weasley. And like her brother and friend before her, Ginny was spattered with blood_

_"Why did you drag me into this Harry? Why did you do such a thing? I gave up on you and then, at the worst time possible, you came after me! I will never forgive you for this Harry Potter, never!" In a blink of an eye, Ginny too, was gone. Now Harry heard a fourth set of footsteps. These, however, sounded as though the person were walking with a spring to their step and Harry turned his head, fearing the worse, to find Draco Malfoy marching toward him, his head held high. He, unlike the other three, was not covered in blood and he looked merely pleased._

_"Good job Potter," he said in a upbeat tone. "You've brought the death to those he deserve it. I merit you for that." Then, not bothering to give Harry a chance to answer, Draco opened his mouth wide and began to laugh. It was a wicked laugh, much unlike anything Harry had ever heard before and he cowered away, placing his hands over his ears and crying out in agony._

"NOOOOOOO!" Harry screamed, sitting bolt upright in bed. He blinked a few times and reached over to the night stand for his glasses. Putting them on, he glanced around the room. He wasn't standing in eternal darkness, he was in his four poster in Gryffindor Tower and every single one of his dorm mates was now sitting up in bed staring at him, looks of utter shock upon there faces. He knew his yell had woken them all up and he suddenly felt very stupid. A hand flew up to the lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead as he suddenly realized it was again seering with an unbelievable pain.

"You alright mate?" asked Ron, in a rather sleepy voice. Harry watched him for a moment as Ron let out a large yawn and stretched. Still, sleepy or not, Harry could tell that Ron was concerned about him. However, he didn't dare tell him about the dream he had been having. What would Ron say if he told him he had just had a dream in which Ron's dead corpse had approached him and blamed him for his death? No, there was absolutely no way he was going to tell him, so he merely nodded and waved the matter away. Ron looked reluctant to stop talking about it but he didn't press the matter; Harry knew he was just too tired. Instead, Ron nodded back to him, turned over and proceeded to fall back to sleep. Only moments later did his quiet steady breathing fill the big dormitory once more.

Harry turned and looked at his other three dorm mates, Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan, and Dean Thomas. They were all staring at him with worried expressions on their faces and although it was dark, Harry saw Dean and Seamus glance at each other uncertainly. Neville was fiddling with his blankets and glancing at Harry nervously. "What?" Harry asked them.

"Well, we were just wondering," Seamus began. He looked over at Dean for support.

"If you really were okay?" Dean finished. Harry looked at them for a moment before slowly nodding his head. Like Ron, the two looked unconvinced but seemed to think better of questioning him any further. They two turned over and went back to sleep. Harry turned his focus on Neville who was still nervously fiddling with his blankets. He stared at him for a long time until finally, Neville gave a sudden yelped and burried himself in his blankets. Harry just sat there in silence, thinking about what had just happened.

After what seemed like hours of thought, he finally decided that the dream could not be ignored, he had to tell someone and that someone could not be Ron, Hermione, or Ginny. As for Malfoy, well, Harry didn't care if he found out about the dream or not. In fact, he was rather enjoying picturing the look on Malfoy's face when he found out that he had actually praised Harry for something, even if it was only in a dream.

But Harry didn't need to tell Malfoy, he needed to tell one of the teachers. The question was, who was he going to tell? Dumbledore was gone now and the only way Harry would be able to talk to him at all, would be to get into the Headmistress's office and prod awake the protrait of the former Headmaster. There was no way he was going to attempt to break into McGonagall's office at this time of night, especially not with her in there. No, the only thing he could do was talk to McGonagall herself and he supposed that, would have to wait until morning.

Sighing heavily to himself, Harry lay back on his pillows, staring up at the curtains to his four poster wondering to himself what the dream had possibly meant. He would have the whole rest of the night to debate it. After all, there was no way he was going to get anymore sleep now, the dream had scared him into a sense of which he was wide awake, and he felt that he would stay that way for all eternity. So, he just lay there, staring up at the curtains and thinking about what he had just dreamt. Could it be he was afraid that he was leading his two best friends and the girl he loved into a trap? He felt certain that was a very plausible idea. But why he would be dreaming something like that just now and not a long time ago, he didn't know. It may have been because they were in grave danger. Little did he know, he was going to be having a series of these dreams, each one different and perhaps not having a message that was clear but he would make a promise to himself that no matter what, none of these dark dreams was going to become true and he, Harry, was going to make sure of that. This dream was, only step one.

**A/N: So what do you all think of the first chappie? This is another of my, "Just start writing and see what kind of plot-line unfolds" stories. I almost never get plot-bunnies for anything until after I start writing it. Anyway, please R&R. Mind you all, I'm falling asleep even as I write this, so if there are a lot of typos, it's because I keep drifting off. I'm going to bed once I've submitted this chappie for validation.**


	2. Talking to McGonagall

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter / Harry Potter / Harry Potter's all mine / Yes, yes, yes / He really is / 'Cause he is super fine! Okay, maybe he's not really all mine but this story certainly is so do enjoy chappie two of "Nightmares to Emotional Insanity".**

Harry couldn't stop thinking about the dream all through the next day. He knew he was very tired, having not had slept at all after he had woken up but he didn't dare fall asleep again, especially if there was a possibility he might have the dream again. Ron and Hermione were very concerned and they both kept asking him all day if he was alright. He assured them he was fine but he was sure that they didn't believe him. After all, the three of them had been best friends for nearly seven years now and it was plainly clear that Ron and Hermione always knew by now when something was bothering Harry. However, unlike all those other times, this time, he couldn't tell them, he just couldn't. So, instead, he lied to them, as much as he hated to do it.

Harry sighed heavily as the final bell rang to signal that classes were out for the day. He dropped his Transfiguration book back into his bag and stood up to leave. "Mr. Potter," he heard Professor McGonagall say as he headed for the door with Ron and Hermione. The two of them looked at him with worried expressions on their faces. Harry didn't say anything, he just turned and looked up at Professor McGonagall, trying his hardest not to look as though anything were bothering him. "I would like you to stay for a few minutes. I have matters I wish to discuss with you." Harry nodded his head and glanced back at Ron and Hermione.

"Don't worry mate," Ron said, "We'll see you later."

"And then you can tell us all about it," Hermione added. Harry nodded to her although he was sure that he wouldn't be telling them anything, especially if what Professor McGonagall had to talk about had anything to do with the dream. But in the back of his mind, a small part of him thought that what she had to say couldn't possibly have anything to do with the dream.

"Close the door behind you," Professor McGonagall told Ron and Hermione firmly. They looked at each other briefly, nodded, and headed out the door, pulling it closed behind them. "Have a seat Mr. Potter." She indicated one of the empty desks at the front of the room and Harry sat down, not wanting to cause her to have any reason to worry.

"What did you want to talk about?" he asked and he was surprised to find that his voice sounded almost normal. He offered a weak smile and quickly dropped it when she shook her head.

Professor McGonagall walked around her desk until she was standing directly in front of him. She had a very stern expression on her face and Harry knew that that meant this could only be something serious. He looked up at her, gulping several times but the lump that had formed in his throat would not go away. Never before had he ever been so afraid of what Professor McGonagall might say to him. He took a few deep breaths and tried to remain calm. Closing his eyes, he continued to take deep breaths and tried to picture a calming scene in his head, such as sitting by the fire in Gryffindor Tower. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't picture anything without the thought being interupted by the dream.

"I am worried about you Potter," Professor McGonagall said suddenly. Harry jumped and opened his eyes. For a moment, he had completely forgotten where he was. "Professor Dumbledore's portrait woke me up in the middle of the night last night to tell me that he sensed.that something was troubling you, something that was causing great pain and was keeping you from a peaceful sleep. I must ask you Potter, did anything out of the ordinary happen to you last night?" Harry just looked at her for a moment and he wasn't surprised when she added, "And don't lie to me, I can tell that you haven't had much sleep. Especially since I noticed you trying to keep yourself from nodding off in my class." Harry sighed heavily and looked up at her.

"Well, you see Professor..." He trailed off, not sure how he was going to say this. He was also afraid that unlike Dumbledore, McGonagall might not believe him but he had vowed to himself that he would tell her because she was his best hope.

"Yes Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

Harry sighed again before taking a deep breath and launching into the story of what had happened the night before. He told her about the dream, about how he had been standing in the darkness and about how Hermione, Ron, and Ginny in turn had appeared covered in blood, telling him it was all his fault that they were dead. He told her about how Draco had then appeared and told Harry how pleased he was that he had caused them to die. He told her that Draco had said that they had gotten what they deserved. Finally he told her how he had woken up screaming at the sound of Draco's voice errupting into laughter. When he had finished, he slowly raised his gaze to meet hers. To his surprise, she looked as though she had been expecting him to say such things and didn't seem surprised in the slightest. She sighed herself, and looked down at him.

"I was afraid this might happen Potter. It is not something unexpected." Harry looked at her wide-eyed.

"It's not?" he asked in bewilderment. Professor McGonagall shook her head.

"No, it's not. Dumbledore has told me that it was very possible that You-Know-Who may try to weaken you by sending you thoughts of those closest to you dead and we know you don't have many people close to you left. He wants to make it easier to get a hold on you Harry and if he drives you up the wall with all this, he can surely persuade your mind to steer well away from his horcruxes and you will no longer have the upper hand. You have to be strong Mr.Potter. It is important that you tolerate anything You-Know-Who may throw at you because destroying his horcruxes is your only hope of destroying him. You must remain focused. Do you understand?" Harry looked at her for a moment and then nodded. "Good. That is all, you may go."

Harry got up out of the seat and grabbed his book bag which he had dropped on the floor when he sat down. He muttered a quiet "thanks" and made his way to the door. _'So McGonagall thinks it Voldemort trying to weaken me and keep me from getting to his horcruxes,'_ he thought to himself as he headed down to the Great Hall for dinner. _'Well, I certainly wouldn't put it pass him to do something like that. I'm sure by now he's figured out what I'm up to.'_

Harry sighed to himself again as he entered the Great Hall. Ron and Hermione were still in there, obviously waiting for him. To his horror, he saw that Ginny was sitting across from them. She too, appeared to be waiting for him. It was obvious that Ron and Hermione had filled her in on what was going on. Harry suddenly realized that he did not feel very hungry and he turned to head out of the Great Hall again, intending to go straight up to the dorms and lie down. He could feel eyes on him but to his great relief, neither Ron, Hermione, nor Ginny, seemed to have the desire to follow him and he walked out of the Great hall in silence.

**A/N: And that concludes chappie 2! Well, what did you all think peeps? I know there wasn't a nightmare in this chappie but there wouldn't be much of a story if every chappie was a new nightmare for Harry to deal with. At most, I might throw one in every other chappie but this is going to go along a basic story line as well so please don't get mad if a chappie doesn't have a nightmare. Oh yeah! I didn't start falling asleep this time! Yay!**


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